Need a plumber in Ottawa? We clear drains, fix and replace water heaters, install sump pumps and backwater valves, and repair sewer laterals and water mains – for homes and businesses, 24 hours a day. Every job starts with a diagnosis and a written quote.
That is part of our crew – the plumbers who actually arrive at your property, not a dispatcher and a subcontractor. Ottawa is a hard city to plumb from a template: clay and cast iron laterals downtown, galvanized supply in the postwar suburbs, PEX and backwater valves in the new builds. We diagnose with a camera and a pressure test instead of guessing, and we pull the permits the City requires.
Clay and cast iron downtown, galvanized and ABS in the postwar suburbs, PEX in new builds. We know which era we are walking into before we open a wall.
Drain and sewer problems get a camera down the line before anyone quotes, so the repair matches the actual defect instead of the easiest thing to sell.
If a fixture, valve or section of line can be safely repaired, we say so. Replacement is a recommendation when it is right, not the default answer.
Scope and price on paper before work starts. The number you approve is the number you pay unless we find something and get your sign-off first.
We pull the permits Ottawa requires for backwater valve and protective plumbing work, and flag when a job looks eligible for the City's rebate.
Burst pipes and sewer backups do not wait for business hours. Calls are answered and dispatched around the clock, every day of the year.
Informational overview – every service below has its own page in the Services menu.
24/7, every day of the year
Burst pipes, sewer backups, no water and active leaks – dispatched around the clock, with the shut-off found and the water stopped first.
Clogged and slow drains
Kitchen, bathroom, floor and main drains cleared with cable and hydro-jet equipment, then camera-checked so the cause is fixed, not just the symptom.
Tank and tankless
Diagnosis, repair and replacement for gas and electric units, sized to your household's real hot-water draw.
Basement flood protection
New pits, pump replacement, battery backup and discharge routing that carries water away from the foundation.
Laterals, roots and collapses
Spot repairs, trenchless lining and full replacement of the private lateral you own from the property line to the house.
Ottawa's freeze season
Controlled thawing, repair of split lines, and insulation fixes for the walls and crawl spaces that keep freezing every winter.
Leaks, running toilets, replacement
Fill valves, flanges, wax seals and full replacements – including the running toilet quietly adding to your water bill.
Showers, tubs, sinks and renovations
Fixture repair and replacement, plus rough-in and final connections when a bathroom is being rebuilt.
For offices, retail, restaurants and multi-unit residential – each has its own page in the Services menu.
Offices, retail and portfolios
Washroom, break room and storefront supply and drain lines, plus portfolio-wide scheduled service for property managers.
Restaurants and food service
Scheduled or one-time cleaning for under-sink traps and in-ground interceptors, with the documentation a health inspection asks for.
Compliance and annual testing
Device installation and the annual testing required on commercial connections that carry a cross-connection risk.
Diagnosis before repair
Video inspection that locates and depth-marks the defect before anyone quotes a fix – and the report that comes with it.
Access drives plumbing pricing more than the part being replaced. Researched 2026 Ottawa ranges below, for budgeting only – your number comes from a free written estimate.
Typical Ottawa-market ranges. Same-day and after-hours emergency work sits above these figures.
$150-$400 first hour
$100-$1,000
$1,500-$6,500
Bigger-ticket jobs where depth, access and reinstatement decide the number. City rebates may apply to flood protection on eligible older homes.
$300-$5,500
$2,500-$6,000
$650-$15,000
The City maintains the sewer main to the property line. Everything from there to the house belongs to you, and it is typically excluded from standard home insurance.
The City's Residential Protective Plumbing Program puts money back toward backwater valves and sump pumps on eligible older homes, plus the permit fee. We flag eligibility before work starts, though the City confirms it.
We inspect, identify the actual fault with a camera or pressure test where it matters, and put scope and price in writing before anything starts.
Permits pulled where required, materials confirmed, and a date booked around your household or trading hours. Emergencies skip straight to dispatch.
The work area is protected and isolated, water is shut off at the right point, and the work is completed to the Ontario Building Code.
Lines are tested, required inspections completed and signed off, and we walk you through what was done before we leave.
Material choice decides how a repair ages. What we specify, and why.
Handles freeze-thaw better than rigid pipe, needs far fewer joints, and can often be pulled through existing wall cavities without opening every surface.
Still the right answer where a line is exposed, runs near heat, or needs the rigidity to carry a fixture.
By wall thickness, not age. Plenty of 70-year-old cast iron is sound and plenty of 40-year-old cast iron is scaled shut.
A tank is the lower up-front cost and the simpler swap, and for predictable hot-water demand it is usually the sensible choice. Tankless costs more installed and often needs venting changes and a larger gas line, but it frees floor space and has no failure mode that puts 190 litres on your basement floor. We size on your peak demand, price the venting honestly, and let you weigh how long you are keeping the property.
Most plumbing emergencies announce themselves for months. A short seasonal routine catches nearly all of them while they are still cheap.
A hose left connected through a cold snap is the single most common cause of hidden winter pipe bursts in Ottawa.
Pour a bucket of water into the pit and confirm it starts, drains and shuts off cleanly.
They cool and set along the whole line, not just the trap. That is what turns a $200 drain call into a $700 hydro-jet.
And make sure everyone in the household knows where it is before they need it at 2am.
A jump with no change in habits almost always means a silent leak or a toilet flapper that has stopped seating.
And again if you get two main-drain backups in the same year.
Ottawa’s pre-1960s homes mostly drain through original cast iron or clay. Clay was laid in short sections with mortar joints, and ground movement opens those joints just enough for maple and elm roots to find water and grow in. Watch for drains slowing across the whole house rather than one fixture, a floor drain gurgling when the washing machine empties, or backups only after heavy rain. We camera and depth-locate first, then match the fix to the footage: spot repair, lining, or replacement.
Ottawa frost reaches shallow water services and any line running through an uninsulated wall, crawl space or garage ceiling. The split usually is not discovered until the thaw pushes water through it, which is why the damage bill arrives days after the cold snap. The signs are specific: one fixture loses flow while the rest of the house is fine, frost appears on exposed pipe, or pressure drops during a deep freeze. Shut the main and call – uncontrolled thawing splits more pipe than the freeze did.
Older combined and undersized sewers can surcharge during a fast melt or heavy downpour, and when the main backs up the water leaves through the lowest opening it finds – the basement floor drain. Separately, saturated ground pushes groundwater through weeping tile faster than a tired pump can move it. Watch for a floor drain that gurgles during rain, water appearing around the drain rather than at a wall, or a pump cycling every few seconds. The fix is a CSA-approved backwater valve plus a correctly sized sump system.
Informational overview – all 28 areas have their own pages in the Service Areas menu.
West-end tech corridor
1980s subdivisions on original supply lines, and post-2012 builds with backwater valves already fitted.
East-end communities
From the older streets near St. Joseph to the newest phases south of Innes.
Fast-growing south end
1990s streets and current construction, where marine clay movement is a live factor on laterals.
Established postwar suburbs
Galvanized supply at end of life, roots in the lateral, and the Merivale commercial corridor.
Village core and new phases
Original village properties and the subdivisions that have grown around them.
Village, riverfront and rural
Village and riverfront properties plus surrounding rural lots on wells and septic.
Feedback shared directly with us by clients across Ottawa.
The plumber arrived on time, explained the issue clearly, and completed the repair without leaving a mess. The whole process was professional and stress-free.
We had a leaking pipe that needed immediate attention. The team responded quickly, found the problem, and had everything working properly again the same day.
Excellent service from beginning to end. The pricing was explained before the work started, and the plumber was courteous, knowledgeable, and efficient.
Our sump pump installation was completed neatly and professionally. They answered all our questions and made sure we understood how the new system worked.
We called for a residential drain problem, and the technician resolved it quickly. Communication was great, the work area was kept clean, and the results were excellent.
An emergency or diagnostic call-out typically runs $150-$400 for the first hour. Cable drain clearing is usually $100-$350, water heater installation $1,500-$6,500 depending on tank or tankless, and sewer repairs from $650 for a spot repair to $15,000 for a full excavation. These are planning ranges, not quotes – every job gets a free written estimate first.
Yes. Emergency dispatch runs around the clock, every day of the year. For an active leak or a backup in progress, call (343) 326-4111 directly rather than submitting a form – and if you can reach the main shut-off safely, close it while you wait.
Fixture repairs and like-for-like replacements generally do not. Backwater valve installation, new sump pit installation, and work that alters or extends drainage or venting do require a City of Ottawa plumbing permit and inspection. We pull those permits as part of the job.
The City maintains the sewer main up to the property line. The private lateral from there to the house belongs to the property owner, so that repair is yours to fund, and it is typically excluded from standard home insurance. That is why we recommend a camera inspection before purchase on any older property.
The City's Residential Protective Plumbing Program offers rebates toward backwater valves, sump pumps and related flood protection on eligible older homes, plus the permit fee. Applications are time-limited relative to the permit date. We can tell you whether a property looks eligible before work begins, but the City confirms it.
Close the main water shut-off valve, then open the lowest faucet in the house to drain the remaining pressure. Kill power to any circuit near standing water at the panel before stepping into it. Then call – the sooner the water stops, the smaller the restoration bill.
Yes – houses, condos, restaurants, offices, retail units and multi-unit residential buildings. The same crew handles both, which matters when a problem in a mixed-use building does not respect the line between them.
Emergency calls are prioritized and dispatched as fast as we can reach you, and Ottawa's suburbs are covered on the same footing as the core. Call directly for the fastest response – form submissions are answered in business hours.
On August 31, 2026, national news and finance outlets carried the announcement that Plumbing Services Ottawa runs 24/7 emergency dispatch across Ottawa and 28 surrounding communities, diagnosing with a camera before any quote is written.
Reported the 24/7 emergency dispatch for burst pipes, active leaks and sewer backups – licensed and insured plumbers on every call, with no dispatchers routing work to subcontractors.
Covered the camera-first approach: drain and sewer problems get a camera down the line before anyone quotes, so the repair matches the actual defect rather than the easiest thing to sell.
Detailed repiping across every Ottawa plumbing era – pre-1960 cast iron and galvanized downtown, postwar ABS through Nepean and Alta Vista, PEX in post-2004 builds.